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The world burns enough oil-derived fuels to drain an Olympic-sized swimming pool four times every minute. Global consumption has never been higher — and is rising. Yet the price of a barrel of oil has fallen by more than half over the past six months because the globe, experts say, is awash in oil.

According to Nager's January 2015 report, "It is easy to get the impression that American manufacturing has entered a new and exciting period of revival. Many in the media, along with consulting firms and economists, now tout the term 'manufacturing renaissance' to describe this so-called revival...If only that were true."

It can take 100 to 400 years for petroleum-based plastic bottles and films to biodegrade. It’s an issue that is known to be clogging our water ways — one study estimates that there could be 270,000 tons of everyday plastics floating in the world’s oceans — and has helped accelerate a push towards more eco-friendly alternatives.

For some, dropping oil prices are a blessing — but the plummet has given oil-industry folks plenty to gripe about. Consumers, meanwhile, have seen the decreasing gas prices as cause for celebration, but are consumers busting out the party supplies to soon?

Mike Lanciloti, vice president of product management and marketing at Colorado-based Spectralink, spoke with Manufacturing Business Technology recently about mobile communications in manufacturing settings. Lanciloti discusses why purpose-built devices might be better than smartphones to run a successful business.

A plunge in the price of gasoline over the past six months has drastically changed the result of the calculation new car buyers and drivers perform every week: How much is it going to cost me to fill this thing up? The national average price of gasoline Monday was $2.13 a gallon, according to AAA, after falling for a record 109 days in a row. Six months ago it was $3.63 a gallon.

OSHA has issued MFG Chemical Inc. citations following an incident involving the release of chemical vapors from an over-pressurized reactor, which left one worker hospitalized and another dead from burns in his respiratory system. OSHA’s proposed penalties total $87,780.

In June, when oil cost $107 a barrel, U.S. employers added a healthy number of jobs — 267,000. Now, with oil below $50, hopes are rising that hiring in the United States is poised to intensify. Goldman Sachs forecasts that if oil stays near its current price, the economy will add 300,000 more jobs this year than if the price had remained at its June level.

California broke ground on its $68 billion high-speed rail system, promising to combat global warming while whisking travelers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours. "We can afford it. In fact, we cannot NOT afford it," said Gov. Jerry Brown.

For chemical manufacturers, 2014 was a year of upbeat economic times — but this year wasn’t without its downbeat news, as accidents, recalls and even a murder mystery were thrown into the mix. Before we wave goodbye to 2014 forever, let’s revisit Chem.info’s most-clicked-on articles of the year and find out where the stories are now.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in December for the 19th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 67th consecutive month, say the nation’s supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. Manufacturing expanded in December as the PMI...

When University of Utah biologists fed mice sugar in doses proportional to what many people eat, the fructose-glucose mixture found in high-fructose corn syrup was more toxic than sucrose or table sugar, reducing both the reproduction and lifespan of female rodents.

By all indicators, manufacturing in the U.S. has been on the upswing and is expected to keep building momentum into the next year. In the world of food packaging manufacturing, how do you make sure you’re not just riding that wave of growth but also capitalizing on emerging trends?

The strange recruitment of a potential $1.2 billion aluminum mill rolls on. American Specialty Alloys had promised to announce a site and a financing plan by the end of the year. The company now plans to publicly name a site in the first three months of 2015.